UP Diliman condemns Duterte’s drug war: No room for an iron fist ignorant of human rights

Students of the University of the Philippines Diliman have taken a stand against the Duterte administration’s war on drugs following the death of 17-year-old Kian Loyd Delos Santos.

In a manifesto of unity signed by various student organizations, the UP Diliman University Student Council (USC) said it is imperative upon the public to “rise against the State’s blatant abuse of power” if it fails in its duty to safeguard the life, liberty and property of each Filipino.

“It in this breath that the students of the University of the Philippines Diliman stands alongside the other mass sectors in the country to condemn and let known its rage and disgust against the implementation of the War on Drugs by the Duterte administration, that has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 of our fellow countrymen,” the USC said.

“A society that aims towards the equal manifestation of human rights for all its citizens has no room for a leadership that flagrantly swings its iron fist towards the people, irreverent to any due process, or the recognition that even a drug addict is a Filipino that deserves a chance at redemption, like any other,” it added.

The USC said Delos Santos’ death is proof that the drug war targets the poor.

Delos Santos was shot dead on August 16 during the anti-drug operations of the Caloocan City police.

“Kian’s case is only one in a sea of cases of extra judicial killings and summary executions, while those who are rich or of influence that are involved in the drug trade go free or are afforded due process, which seems more a privilege nowadays than a right,” the USC said.

UP Diliman’s student council said it becomes even more imperative for the people to rise against the “culture of oppression and impunity” that is prevalent nowadays.

“We join the Filipino people in grief and in condemnation of the unnecessary and inhumane bloodshed that the War on Drugs has brought upon our country. Cognizant that our unified and collective action has the power to confront and shake the state, we call upon each and every citizen to organize and move, grounded by our common clamor for human rights to be recognized and for the violence to end,” the USC said.

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